Paying Your Property Tax Bill With Your Online Bill Pay Feature From Your Bank? Consider this......

          For those that don't have the time for all of my words (people say I am a bit "wordy"), I am starting with my conclusion so you can move along with your day. If you have a hard deadline for bill payment, DON'T use your online bill pay feature with your private bank. There is no guarantee that your physical check will be mailed in time to meet the deadline (even after you do your calculations and conclude that the date you select is plenty of time). And if you use your online bill payment feature to pay your property tax bill to Lawrence Township, understand the risk involved. If the Township does not receive your check by the deadline (which always includes a grace period), interest and a penalty will be imposed. Ok, if you want the full, long-winded version why, keep reading.

            It seems like at the same time each year (3^rd Quarter Tax Payments), the Lawrence Township Tax Collector and her staff are on the receiving end of angry and frustrated taxpayers that received a notice that their property tax payments were late and that interest and penalties are being imposed (as required by N.J.S.A.  54:4-66). It doesn't matter whether the interest is.08 cents or $25 or more, the degree of anger and disrespect delivered from the property owner to the Tax Collector and her staff is the same. And when they hear that the interest and penalty will not be waived, the level amps up --- and then I receive the phone call. The conversation I have with the callers doesn't give them the relief they demand because waiving the interest and penalty are not optional. The callers offer all kinds of excuses, and some demand for the Township to prove their check was received late. A policy that empowers a municipal employee to use discretion on voiding interest and penalties creates an unrealistic situation to manage. Undoubtedly, those denied will feel unfairly treated, and accusations of wrongdoing and favoritism will abound – wasting even more time and resources. It just won't work.   So, I thought, why not write a blog article about this issue and, hopefully, get out in front of the problem for the next go-round?

            Ninety percent of the time, the late payment involves a taxpayer's use of the online bill payment feature offered by their private lender. The taxpayer believes their payment was mailed on the day they scheduled it. That may be the case, but it doesn't mean the check will be received by the deadline. What people don't know or realize, despite their bank's notice that it does not guarantee delivery of payments by a specific date, the thousands and thousands of online bank payments are physical checks released by their bank on the day scheduled but are seemingly sent to a clearing house and ultimately collected together and mailed in bulk --- not necessarily on the day you expected it to be sent. 

            When tax payments are due and collected, the Tax Collector's office receives hundreds and hundreds of physical checks mailed in bulk daily. These checks are often dated differently and days apart from one another. Meaning a check dated September 15 and a check dated September 20 are in the same bulk delivery to the Township by U.S. Mail. Notably, the day the check is physically received by the Township is the day it posts it to your account – without fail. No check is left unposted for a day or days in the tax office. It doesn't happen. People seem to assume that their property tax payments are handled similarly to the I.R.S. and State tax returns, with the date they are mailed being the date that counts. It's not true. The date the payment is received is the date that matters for collecting property taxes --- everywhere, not just Lawrence Township.

            To assist taxpayers in making sure they meet the deadline (and the grace period), Lawrence Township offers four ways for you to pay your taxes:  (1) A taxpayer may take the short ride to the municipal building Monday through Friday between 8:30 AM and 4:30 PM to make their payment in person. The added benefit to this option is that you can offer some warm greetings to the municipal staff as you see them in the hallways; (2) A taxpayer may take the short ride to the municipal building and use the secured black box positioned at the North Entrance to make their payment. It is available 24/7, 365 days a week. The box is checked multiple times a day and first thing Monday morning. The added benefit to this is that you can avoid all human contact and take care of business and move along with your day; 3) A taxpayer, comfortable in using an online payment option, can use our E-check payment feature to make sure the date you make the payment is the date it will be posted to the account. The administrative fee for this is $2. And, no, it is not a grand scheme to make revenue for the "Township." It is a fee paid by the "user" of the service, with the "Township" making no money from it. Unlike your online bill payment option from your lender, this option is received and posted to your tax account on the same day, and (4) A taxpayer can pay by credit card. Some like getting the points, I guess. But to use this, there is a more significant fee based upon a percentage of the total payment made. If you are unnerved by being assessed interests and penalties, this option is not for you!

            Do your due diligence by contacting your bank to verify how online bill payment works. You will most likely find the information on the site where you use the feature.   So, if you have a hard deadline for payment, don't use your online bill payment feature!

            Now, on a personal level, most of you may not understand the kind of verbal abuse (and, at times, threats) our Tax Collector and her staff take from residents and business owners who fail to take the proper steps to ensure they pay their taxes on time. Trust me; it is unsettling, to say the least. We also have many saved envelopes with the most disgusting things written on them from people who take their "tax payment" anger out on our staff. I guess it makes them feel good – at the expense of the good people who work here.

            As I try to do from time to time when I write on social media, I again want to remind you that all of us working for the Township are living and breathing human beings. Many of us live in town. We are your friends, neighbors, and family members. And, no, we all are not working in concert with one another to bilk you for $10, $15, or $50 in interest in late fees. Contrary to some who believe the worst, we are not corrupt or evil. We come to work each day and do the job the community needs us to do.

            Oh, one other thing, for as long as I can remember, the August tax payments are customarily billed later than the other quarters. We send out the tax bills immediately after we receive the County tax rate from the County.   It just is what it is (and it has nothing to do with us) – and all that we can do is promptly send out the bills when all of the information is received – and we do.   We also provide an extended grace period when tax bills are later than expected.  Ok, no more “words” for now!  Have a great day, Everyone!